THE JACK. 189 



looked down upon from above ; but the profile of the bead 

 and snout, i. e. when looked at sideways, is quite sufficiently 

 "piked" as to justify bis Euglisb title of "pike," or 

 "jack," i.e. "javelin-fish," from "jaculum," a dart-bead. 

 And here let me say that in this Note I shall use the 

 terms "jack" and "pike" indiscriminately, as the old 

 distinction of a fish under 5 lbs. being called a "jack," and 

 a fish over that weight a " pike," seems to have gradu- 

 ally been given up. "Jack" is the name now most 

 in use. 



Query. — Is it possible that the " serried pikes " in his 

 mouth — his teeth — are the origin of bis name ? 



It is hardly necessary, either for the purpose of airing 

 my own knowledge or adding to that of my readers, to 

 say that our fresh-water shark, like other far more inno- 

 cent fish, derives his being from the hatching of ova ; but 

 it may not be known to all that the spawn is deposited 

 from the end of February to the end of March, or even to 

 the end of April, according to the state of the weather and 

 the water, and also according to the age of the pikesses, 

 the youthful fish spawning earlier and the dowagers, or 

 " frog " pikes later in the season, when frogs are active in 

 perpetuating their race. Old Isaak Walton, our patron 

 saint, somewhat quaintly describes the spawning opera- 

 tions. Unfortunately a tendency to seek ditches and 

 creeks in the spawning season is the cause of capture by 

 poachers to scores of jacks and jackesses, particularly along 

 the Thames ; but it may be hoped that before long the 

 Thames Conservancy, the Thames Angling Preservation 

 Society, and the District Angling Associations, aided by 

 riparian owners and tenants of adjoining land, maybe able 

 entirely to put" down the nefarious practice, which they 



